A Second Season: Part 9: Telling Stories
by splash
Summary: Shelby causes a little diversion, reads her letter from Scott, Daisy acts on her feelings for a boy, Lindsay tells her story, Grace has flashbacks to that night when...


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A Second Season: Part 9: 

By Splash

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OK so since Mary couldn't wait, I'll break this into two parts so I can post sooner ;-) See? It's a good thing to submit a review! (Aside from the fact that they are fun to read.) I'll work on the rest this weekend.

This starts right after Part 8. Daniel is still missing. Lindsay is in the hospital.   
In this part Daisy's romantic side is challenged, Lindsay tells Grace her story and Grace has a flashback that will explain a lot (including why she's been so sick). 

The next part of this (which I'm still working on) deals with Soph's past and Shelby's surprise… It also touches on Alexis and Ezra's feelings about their birth parents. A new student will arrive and one will leave in Part 10.

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Night was falling and Peter was growing more worried. They hadn't seen any new signs of him since the earlier tracks. He must have found a place to hide. Or maybe he's hurt. Peter couldn't afford to think like that. Regardless, Daniel would spend another night in the woods alone before they could go back out looking for him. 

The next morning they were lucky. The weather, which had threatened to turn bad during the night, had cleared, and the students, along with Search and Rescue, headed back out to look for Daniel. This time they focused their efforts on the area behind the school, up by the ridge, where the tracks were seen yesterday. Shelby and Ezra were teamed with Jeff, who was in true form today and no more than twenty paces into the woods tripped on an imaginary rock. Shelby and Ezra kept on going writing it off to Jeff just being clumsy. Eventually they were so far ahead of him they couldn't hear him calling for them in the distance. Finally Ezra looked back and noticed that Jeff's not there.

"Uh, Shelby? Where's Jeff?"

"How should I know? He was behind you last I looked," She paused to look back down the trail. "Like ten minutes ago."

"We should go back for him," Ezra decrees.

"He's a big boy. Not saying he can take care of himself out here, or anything, but I don't want to back track. We would've been better off without him on this one," Shelby bitched.

"Fine," Ezra knew he was fighting a loosing battle. "I'll go. You stay here—don't move. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Shelby didn't like being ordered to do anything, especially by Ezra.

Ezra headed back in the direction they came from. In a few minutes he was out of sight, and Shelby was bored. She poked around up ahead and saw that she was by the edge of the ridge and there was a small clearing with a nice rock she could sun on. From here, she would be able to hear Ezra and Jeff calling her when they got back. She dropped her pack against the rock and looked around at the view. It was pretty amazing. 

She went to sit down, but something caught her eye. It was shiny, like a watch face reflecting the sun, under a bush. She pulled back the branches and looked behind. Startled by what she found. There was Daniel no more than a foot away, sleeping—no, make that snoring. She nudged him not so gently with the toe of her boot. He jumped up suddenly, disoriented.

"Shit, Shelby. You scared me to death."

"Well you have most of Horizon scared, so guess we're even, huh?"

"Whatever," Daniel was too tired to fight with her.

"Yeah, Whatever. Must've sucked last night out here—doesn't look too comfortable," Shelby wasn't about to cut him any slack. She was pissed that she had been dragged out into the woods to look for his sorry ass. Especially after what he allegedly did to Lindsay.

"It was better than being back at school," Daniel sighed.

"What, couldn't face everyone after what you did to Lindsay?" Shelby still wouldn't let him be.

"Huh, I didn't…" Daniel didn't have a clue what had happened to Lindsay. "What happened?"

"She's in the hospital. Rumor is that you put her there." Shelby chided.

"I didn't push her _that _hard…" Daniel said to himself softly, but Shelby heard.

"Smooth… So, you _did_ push her down the stairs. Should've known."

"Is she ok?" Daniel was really concerned.

"Doc says she'll live. You, well after Peter gets a hold of you, you might not be so good." Shelby was amused at the thought of Peter ripping into Daniel.

"Look. I didn't mean to hurt her. You have to believe me." Daniel was almost begging. "I would never… not Lindsay."

Daniel looked into Shelby's eyes for some sign on compassion anything that would suggest she might be willing to help him. There was nothing, but Daniel felt desperate enough to try anyway.

"You've got to help me get to town," he suggests. "Word is you know the delivery guy?"

"Maybe," Shelby had an idea of where this was leading, but wasn't sure she wanted to help him, _yet._

"So you can distract him while I sneak on the truck? We should hurry. The truck will be there soon. I'm guessing we have about 45 minutes before he gets here and then about a half-hour to unload before leaving," he said working through the details out loud. "We should make tracks."

"Who said I was helping you?" Shelby asked just to be difficult. She had already decided to help—she didn't know why really, but she didn't know why not to either. The two turned to head back to the school when Shelby heard Ezra calling her. She quickly steered Daniel to the edge of the clearing behind some trees and got out her notebook. 

She scribbled, "Got bored. Found nothing. Went back to campus. See you there," and put the open notebook on the rock where she had been sitting. She was sure Ezra would find it sooner or later. For Daniel's sake, hopefully later. 

She went back to Daniel and they skirted parallel to the path Shelby, Jeff and Ezra had taken to get here, going slowly at first so as not to get caught. Soon they were back at school and sure enough there was the truck, just starting to unload. They would have to wait until he was almost done, but Shelby was all set. Ten minutes later the plan was put into motion.

After watching the truck drive away with Daniel in it, Shelby headed back out to the woods—to her favorite place, to be alone with Scott. Yesterday she had received another letter from him. This one was long—too long to finish in the chaos of yesterday. Shelby figured she at least would have some peace for a while. That is until she has to tell someone where Daniel went.

About an hour or so later, Daisy and Sam found her in the woods folding a letter and putting it back into its envelope. They watched her kiss the envelope and sigh. Daisy figured it must be from Scott—after all who else would provoke such a reaction from Shelby. 

"Hey, Shelby. See you are really searching hard," Daisy joked.

"Yeah, I'm searching telepathically," Shelby said sarcastically.

"And have you seen anything yet?" Sam queried, amused at the rapport between the two girls.

"Ummm," Shelby hummed, putting her fingers to her temple, and closing her eyes. She began to rock back and forth. Dramatically, as if she was a fortune teller, Shelby continued, "I see Daniel on the back of a large truck filled, no half empty, with boxes… food… Oh, he's getting off. He's in town… no… He's at the hospital. He's going to get Lindsay… Ooooh…" She squeezed her eyes tight. 

"I'm loosing him." She opened her eyes and shrugged, "Oh well. Guess I should run and tell Peter that I've solved the mystery! C'ya!" 

With that Shelby jumped up and headed back to campus with a spring in her step. Daisy just shook her head, doubting that Shelby's going to hurry any—until it dawned on her Shelby might have helped Daniel get to town to see Lindsay and could've been telling the truth.

Daisy explained this all to Sam. They decided not to head back too quickly—they would give Shelby enough time to do what she needed to without interference—they would get back just in time for lunch. They don't have a radio so how could they get word to Peter faster than Shelby who had already started back? They sat down to rest and began to talk. 

At first, the conversation was about horizon and Scott and Shelby. Then it turned to Sam's group and his twin and Alexis. Sam agreeing with Daisy that Steve is in over his head with that girl. These two friends had grown closer than they realized and time passed effortlessly when they were together.

For some reason, which she could not put her finger on, Daisy felt completely at ease with Sam. There were no expectations, no ulterior motives, just simple friendship. He asked her how she ended up at Horizon. At first he hesitated worrying she'd get upset that he asked, but without any pause, Daisy began to tell him what happened. She shared everything, her mom's drinking, the seven-iron, then the funeral and her dad. She talked about things it had taken her months to share with Peter or the group. Now she shared them effortlessly with an almost stranger. That was basically what they were, wasn't it? They had only been friends for about a month now—they weren't even in the same group. How could he understand? Daisy wondered looking to him for a reaction. Sam was listening attentively, but without saying anything. 

Sam's eyes were soft, caring, but he let them wander when she looked up as if to avoid looking directly at her. Daisy couldn't understand this and her uncertainty made her feel vulnerable. Just as suddenly as she started, she stopped. Now he looked right at her. She was staring at the ground.

"Daisy, you ok?" he asked after some silence.

"Sure…" Tears were welling in her eyes. Sam didn't know what to do or say, so he just sat there, mouth half open, eyes frantically searching her face for an answer. Finally she continued.

"You just open up to someone, and they say nothing. Just silence. You just sit there?" Daisy half-barked at him. He was stunned, he thought he was being a good friend, just listening.

"Oh… I… I just… I didn't feel it was my place to judge or offer advice. I _was _listening to you, to everything. I just thought… I mean, that's what I want—someone to just listen. It means a lot that you could open up to me," he explained dejected. There was silence for a few more moments before Daisy spoke again.

"I guess I'm not used to it—the silence. Here, at horizon, there's always someone in your face offering advice. I didn't mean…" Daisy was spent. Between telling her story and the emotions it brought back up, and feeling bad about biting Sam's head off, she couldn't stop the tears.

Sam put his arm around the now crying Daisy and kissed her gently on the top of her head. After a few minutes of silence, Sam started into his life as a twin. Daisy stopped crying and even laughed at some of Sam's stories about Steven's antics. Sam would never tell his brother's secret, but tried to explain how he was set-up by Steven. He talked about what he would have done had he not been forced to come here—he was planning on going away to a boarding school anyway, a good school. He had gotten into one of the best boarding schools in the country, even won a scholarship, and hadn't told anyone, except Steven. 

Two days later after telling his brother, Sam was setup with the drugs in his locker. Sam thought that Steven was responsible, but had no proof. The judge gave his parents two options—juvenile hall or a school similar to Horizon so that the twins could "get their lives in order and get off drugs." No one believed Sam when he said he'd never touched the stuff. They only saw Steve—the trouble making, drug using, school-skipping twin—not Sam the quiet, smart, shy twin. When his parents decided to send them both to Horizon, Sam wrote the school and deferred for "family" reasons. Soon he would have to tell the school why he wouldn't ever be coming. He hung his head in his hands. 

Daisy returned the affection bestowed upon her earlier by Sam, stroking the back of his head. An overwhelming feeling came over Sam at that moment. He had never felt so close to someone before, especially not a girl, he liked this feeling and didn't want to loose it. He looked up at her and smiled wondering if she felt the same way. 

Daisy blushed when he looked right at her. This was the first time they had made direct eye contact. A chill ran down her spine—not a bad feeling, but an exhilarating one—something she had never felt before. Before she knew what was happening, he kissed her. It felt good—too good perhaps—to have his soft, warm lips on hers. She didn't resist at first, but then pulled away suddenly.

"Look, I don't…her voice trails off I can't… I told Ezra I didn't date. It wouldn't be fair to him."

"Do you like the guy?" Sam asked softly—he was aware of some of the history between those two as Ezra talked about her incessantly.

"Ez? Of course… but not like that—more like a brother," she explained.

"And me?" Sam asked playfully without giving her a chance to finish. Daisy's eyes lingered on his face before returning to the ground.

"I don't know yet. It's all so…" Daisy was, for once, at a loss for words.

"New?"

"Yeah… and confusing…" Daisy was new at this, and not used to these feelings she was having for Sam.

"It's supposed to be all that and fun too…" They both smiled and some of the tension lifted, if only for a moment.

"Scott and Shelby sure had fun… But now…" Daisy couldn't imagine what Shelby felt like after Scott left Horizon, or what she would feel like if that ever happened to her. It was best never to find out, she thought.

"Endings are hard, but not even experiencing it in the first place… You could be missing out," Sam cautioned.

"Are you saying you're that good?" Daisy was now teasing him to steer his attention away from her awkwardness.

"No…" Sam blushed, embarrassed by the suggestion, but soon overcame this bashfulness, "Well maybe, but you'll never know unless you take a chance, huh?" 

Daisy laughed and this time it was she who kissed Sam. After coming back up for air, she continued, "but slowly ok? None of this instant relationship stuff."

"OK, slowly… So we start at good friends then?"

"_Very _good friends…" Daisy smiled warmly at Sam nudging him with her shoulder. This is the beginning of a wonderful… something… She thought to herself.

They got up and turned to head back to the school. As they started walking and Sam took Daisy's hand in his and squeezed it softly. They continued all the way, hand-in-hand, until they could see the lodge in the distance. Then Sam squeezed her hand more last time before releasing it to her side. 

The next morning at the hospital, Lindsay was feeling much better and the Doctor suggested she could go home the next morning, since her head wound had since stop swelling so badly. Peter brought Grace back to the hospital to sit with Lindsay for the morning. He would check in with the doctor before heading back to the school to help look for Daniel.

Grace was sick again this morning, but tried to hide it best she could. The whole car ride from Horizon was almost torture. At least she hadn't eaten anything for breakfast—so there was little to thrown up. Finally she got the hospital and quickly excused herself to the bathroom before heading to Lindsay's room. Peter was there when she finally arrived, and he said he would be back after lunch, around one o'clock, to get her.

Grace slumped down into a chair beside the bed as soon as Peter left. There was another patient in the room who was sleeping soundly. So the two girls kept their voices to a whisper. 

"Grace, you ok?" Lindsay asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just sick to my stomach," Grace tried to bluff with little success. Lindsay was a master of disguise and knew when someone was trying to snow her. 

"You sure?" Lindsay pushed her again—this time with success. Tears began to fall from Grace's tired eyes and she ran into the bathroom just in time to be sick again. A few minutes later the toilet flushed.

"I think I might be pregnant," Grace said quietly. The room was still and stuffy with the only noise coming from the machines monitoring the patient's heart rate and the other girl snoring.

"What? How?" Lindsay asked surprises and not knowing what else to say.

"I missed my period _again _and I've been feeling really sick for the last few weeks. It's getting harder to hide it from everyone," Grace started to explain.

"No, I mean, how did… _who_ got you pregnant?" Lindsay couldn't believe it. 

"They forced me… It's a long story… I don't know if I…" Grace was lost. She wanted so desperately to tell someone, anyone, but she didn't want _them _to hurt her brother, which they had promised to do if she told. "Lindsay I can't. I just can't…" and Grace burst into tears.

"I know how that feels. I haven't ever told anyone what happened to me either. I guess I was lucky though," Lindsay said lost in thought about what could've happened that night. "My parents thought I was the perfect child. They couldn't see how much it just sucked to always have to be perfect. The best grades, the best behavior, the best… everything became a chore. I had no friends at school—every one thought I was a total geek, and I was. I went to school, went home, did my homework, read a lot of books and nothing else. My parents were so _proud_. Whatever. They had no clue," Lindsay took a deep breath. It was hard for her to talk about how she had disappointed her parents. She had only wanted them to see that she too was human.

"Anyway, I just wanted them to leave me be. Let me be a kid for once—to go over and play with friends. No make that, to have friends to go play with. They never once thought it odd that I had no friends who ever wanted to come over, that I never got invited to birthday parties, that I never had one of my own…" Her voice trailed off. A she continued it got harder to stop—she wanted more than anyone to tell someone now. She had never admitted her feelings to anyone except Greg. Greg had been her boyfriend before…

"So I guess I got tired of being perfect. The reasons all kind of blur together. I started hanging out with this group of older students. They didn't know who I was so I could make myself into anything. I started skipping school, at first still keeping up with my homework and grades, but eventually I just gave up all together. I finally fit in somewhere. My new friends were happy to see me when I showed up and they always consulted me before making plans. I had friends, finally. Or at least I thought I did."

"What I didn't realize until later was that they were _really _into drugs. Not just pot, but heavy stuff. Heroin, Acid, X. I had never done anything wrong, let alone illegal. So it didn't take much for them to get me to try smoking. First it was pot then ecstasy. I tried everything in between, but ecstasy was the best. You were just floating, full of energy, excited. I could forget who I used to be…" Lindsay explained sadly, as though at times she missed being able to forget.

"I stopped coming home at night and my parents were frantic. They didn't know what to do with me. They tried threatening, locking me in my room, grounding… Nothing worked, I finally stopped coming home at all and began living with Greg. We started dating—everything was ok, except he kept pushing… All he wanted eventually was sex. I kept saying no, but was afraid he would kick me out, and then where would I live."

"One night we were at this rave. It was totally crowded and I was dancing with a huge group of people. I was totally lost. I don't know what I took that night to get me so wasted. I was usually careful—I know that sounds messed-up—careful doing dangerous, not to mention illegal, drugs. The old me would have never…" Now it was Lindsay who began to get teary eyed. Grace hadn't said a word through the whole story—she didn't know what to say anyway, so she kept listening. Lindsay needed a friend as much as she did. After a short pause Lindsay continued.

"Anyway, sometime around midnight everything goes blank. I don't remember what happened next, only how and where I woke up the next day. I was naked lying next to him, Greg. I guess it was good that it was Greg and not some complete stranger—that would have totally put me over the edge. I was panicked. I didn't remember anything, how did I get naked, what happened, did I have sex with him? Did I say yes, was I even conscious? These thoughts all raced through my head. I went to get up and my head was killing me. I had no idea what time it was so I leaned over to look at Greg's watch. He was totally burning up like he had a really high fever. I tried to wake him, but no response. Suddenly he started convulsing—it was only three in the morning—I panicked I didn't know what to do, there was no one else around. I finally called 911 and they showed up ten minutes later. Doctors said he overdosed on the X and one of the side effects can be extremely high fever. If the fever's high enough then it could result in brain damage…" Her voice trailed off absently for a moment. "Anyway the Doctor apparently called my parents and they came and got me, before I knew how Greg was doing. There was no discussion—only a lecture and then they decided the best thing was to send me here." Lindsay's face was now almost void of expression. She was blocking the pain and tears. She was too tired to talk anymore.

The room would have been deathly silent had it not been for the rhythmic sounds of the machines monitoring the patients. Lindsay just stopped talking and Grace was lost in her own thoughts. The two were hurting. They could only help each other so much, but neither one was ready to tell anyone else their secrets. 

Grace was remembering that night it all began and, in many ways, all ended. 

***Flashback***

"Where is he?" the older boy demanded.

"How should I know?" Grace said indignantly. The younger boy was mad and he grabbed her, shaking Grace violently. 

"Might as well give him up—we'll find him eventually anyway," he said.

"Not if I can help it!" Grace said defiantly. She looked at the two boys standing over her. They were supposed to be family—or whatever. How could they always be so tough on Mark? The two boys were Tim and Matt, Mark's older brothers and, as of two months earlier, her new step-brothers. Tim, the oldest, was the toughest on Mark. Matt just followed Tim's lead, trying to act tough and as a result, sometimes going overboard. 

"What are you his protector now?" Tim laughed. "Maybe we should mess with you instead—see if he'll show up to save you…"

"Doubt it. Mark's always been a wuss," Matt added trying to sound macho. He wasn't keen on the idea of roughing Grace up—too much trouble with dad if they were found out.

Tim pushed Grace onto her bed. Hiding below Mark winced at the sound of the bed squeaking on top of him. He was scared, really scared of what those two might do if he came out, but he was even more terrified of what they might do to Grace if he didn't. He was too scared to move so he stayed under the bed.

"So innocent, aren't you Gracie. Dad is really taking a liking to his new little girl… Know what I think of that?" Tim spit at Grace. "You must be doing something on the side to get his attention. That it? Want to share a little? We _are_ family after all."

Grace had no idea what he was talking about, but didn't want to find out. She kept looking for an opportunity to make a run for the door. There was no one else at home, but if she could get to the front door… Before she could do anything Tim was leaning over her on the bed looking at her threateningly. Grace almost laughed, Tim looked so stupid, but she knew it would just make things worse. Matt had apparently caught onto what Tim was planning.

"Tim, maybe we shouldn't. Mark will have to show his face eventually," Matt hesitated.

"What you a wimp too?" Tim was getting annoyed all around. The heat coming from Grace lying below him was arousing. 

"No, but…" 

Grace was shaking. Tim stood up to face Matt and Grace decided this was her best chance to make a break for it. She waited one second too long though and as she rolled off the bed, Tim was already turning back around. He grabbed her wrist and wrenched it, forcing Grace back to the bed. His eyes were dancing with rage. Tim started to unbuckle his pants. Grace was now fully aware of her fate if she didn't fight back. She started to kick and scream. Matt moved to hold her down as Tim pushed up her skirt and got on top of her.

***end flashback***

"Grace? Grace…" 

Grace barely heard Lindsay's voice over her thoughts. 

***flashback continues***

Grace was sobbing. She couldn't stop them. Matt finished buckling his pants, and Tim grabbed her again.

"You ever tell anyone, including your precious little Mark, and it will get it worse than either of you could imagine. Hear me?" 

Grace nodded yes. She was trembling uncontrollably. She just wanted it all to be over. She wanted them to leave. 

They slammed the door behind them on their way out. She could hear their laughter in the hallway—her tears would not subside.

***End Flashback***

Grace ran to the bathroom crying and sick to her stomach, in part from her memories, in part from the child growing inside her. When she come back out. She wouldn't tell Lindsay anything else. She promised, for Mark's sake. _She _was finally safe from the two terrors, but he was still at home. Grace had to keep telling herself over and over that it was for the best keeping this secret.

Luckily she wouldn't have to. As she was coming out of the bathroom after freshening up some, Peter walked in. He asked how they were doing, but since Grace was there, he didn't try to probe Lindsay for what happened the night of the accident. Peter was content to wait until he returned this afternoon to take her back to Horizon. 

"Grace, I think we should let Lindsay rest some. The doctor said you could go home this afternoon—so I'll be back later to check you out and bring you back to Horizon," Peter explained.

"Have they found him?" Lindsay asked quietly. She was concerned about Daniel, but didn't want to go into anything until she had talked to him.

"Not yet, but we will," Peter said unconvincingly.

From the stairway door, Daniel watched Grace and Peter get onto the elevator and leave. He sneaked into Lindsay's room being careful not to be seen by the nurse reading a chart across the hall. Lindsay looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Daniel didn't want to wake her, but was reassured by the steady sound of her breathing. He kissed her forehead just beside the bandage. 

"I'm so sorry." He whispered softly. She opened her eyes and smiled a shallow, crooked smile. 

"Hey, you know everyone's been looking for you?" Lindsay teased. "Don't worry, I didn't tell them what happened. I wanted to talk to you first. I want to know _why _you pushed me away," Lindsay practically blurted out without coming up for air. Lindsay had plenty of time to think in that hospital. She knew that there was something bothering Daniel, she just didn't know what.

"I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to push you that hard. I…" Daniel's exhaustion and hunger was getting the best of him. Just at that moment the door began to open.

"Quick, hide in the closet" Lindsay whispered pointing to the closet door.

A nurse brought dinner in without saying much and then turned to leave, straightening the curtain between the two patients before closing the door behind her. Lindsay called Daniel out of the closet and offered him her dinner. He declined at first, but eventually he couldn't resist when she didn't eat a thing—which she did on purpose knowing his hunger would take over, eventually. They sit quietly and joke about Daniel smelled and how bad he looked, not having showered today. 

Lindsay pressed him again for answers. Finally Daniel started to talk.

"Lindsay… I really didn't mean to push you so hard. I was just in a messed up place the other night," Daniel started. "I totally think you are an incredible person. You are so smart and kind, you didn't deserve…"

"So why did you?" Lindsay pleaded.

"I was… AM confused. I don't like you. I mean like-like you, I just don't think of you that way—or even other girls, I guess…"

Tears were welling up in his eyes. He had never admitted this to anyone before, not even himself. Lindsay didn't know what to say to Daniel, she never saw this one coming. 

"_You're_ gay?!?" Lindsay asked quite loudly.

"Yeah…" Daniel said averting his eyes from hers.

"It doesn't make any sense. If you're… then why did you hurt that kid at your old school?"

"I was confused, angry, mad--all of the above. I thought I could make it go away. I thought it was a phase, but it wasn't. Somewhere deep down, I knew this and it made me angry. Guess I took out my anger on him. I'm not saying it was right, or even justifiable. It all happened so quick."

"So it happened again the other night, too? When you pushed me."

"Sort of. I was going over and over it in my head. There was no way around it. I would disappoint everyone, my mom, my brothers and especially my dad. He wouldn't admit it, but it would crush him." 

"You just can't go around hurting people, just because you're afraid…"

"Look." Daniel raised his voice. "I've heard it all already… give it a rest? Please? I said I was sorry…"

"Fine…" Lindsay said hurt by his tone. "For now…"

Daniel smiled shallowly at her, and went into the bathroom. He emerged looking significantly cleaner, but still so tired. 

"You can stay here for a little while," Lindsay said gently. She wanted more from him, a better explanation, but she knew he couldn't give it to her yet. 

"Time, give him time", she thought. 

She moved over in the tiny hospital bed and motioned for him to join her. He laid down beside her on the bed careful not to get too close. He closed his eyes and was asleep almost instantly. She stroked his messy hair softly before falling asleep herself.

A few hours later Peter returned to the hospital after Shelby explained how she saw Daniel getting into the bread truck after telling him that Lindsay was in the hospital. Peter walked into Lindsay's room and there was Daniel asleep beside her. She was under the covers and he was on top. 

"Daniel?" Peter said sternly and loudly. "A lot of people have been looking for you."

They both awoke with a start. Lindsay looked around to get her bearings. At least he hadn't run away again, she thought.

"Yeah, I heard," a groggy Daniel answered Peter.

"And… what do you have to say for yourself?" Peter pushed.

Daniel just shrugged. 

"You disappear from horizon for two days, and then I find you in a bed with Lindsay?"

"Look, Peter, nothing happened. He was tired and hungry. He just fell asleep. I didn't want to wake him." Lindsay explained defensively.

Peter was skeptical. He had originally thought Daniel was the one who pushed her, but seeing this he wasn't so sure what was going on anymore. He had had enough for one day.

"Time to go Daniel. You're on shuns for two weeks. No talking to any of the other students, that includes Lindsay. Outside of classes you are confined to your dorm. Got it?" Daniel acknowledged his punishment and turned to say good night to Lindsay. He mouthed the words, "I'm sorry" to Lindsay and she smiled back, "good night." Daniel left the room with Peter. A second later Peter came back in.

"Lindsay, the doctor wanted to do a few more tests, so I'll be back first thing tomorrow to get you," Peter said after remembering the other point of his visit.

"Sure," Lindsay answered. "Peter? Don't be too hard on him. Please?"

He couldn't promise anything. Daniel had run and that was not acceptable. 

Peter walked Daniel back to the truck. He paused before starting the car, as if to say something to Daniel then, but he was too tired. It would wait until they got back to the school. Graham and Sarah should be there for the talk.

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Next time: Graham tries to be patient with Daniel, Sophie's past pays her a visit, Shelby is in for a surprise—did Peter have a hand in it? Maybe? You'll have to wait and see!


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